Longboat Energy PLC (AIM:LBE) has begun drilling operations on the Cambozola exploration well in Norway, in which it owns 25% stake.
Cambozola is one of Norway's largest gas prospects to be drilled in 2022, with the turbidite sand lobes of the lower cretaceous particularly prominent on seismic data.
Located in the PL1049/PL1049B/PL1049C licenses in the Northern North Sea, Cambozola is located 30 km northwest of Longboat's Kveikje discovery announced last week.
The entire Cambozola prospect has an estimated at 159mln barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in unrisked mean prospective resources.
Should Cambozola prove to be a success, the licenses will have follow-up prospectivity, the company said.
Equinor, which operates the well, has contracted Deepsea Stavanger semi-submersible drilling rig to drill the Cambozola well 34/9-1S, which is expected to take up to 14 weeks.
Longboat owns a 10% interest in the Kveikje well.
"Longboat Energy's remaining 2022 exploration programme offers shareholders a unique opportunity to gain gas weighted drilling exposure targeting net mean prospective resource potential of 66 mmboe with an additional 246 mmboe of upside," said Helge Hammer, chief executive.
Shares were up 2.01% at 72.94p in early morning trade.